Publication Order of Anthologies

Ken Bruen is one of the most renown Irish writers, who writes noir crime fiction novels. He was born in Galway, Ireland, in 1951. He studied at Gormanston College, County Meath, and Trinity College Dublin, where he got a Ph.D in Metaphysics. Unlike most novelists, Ken Bruen has travelled around the world. During his twenty-five years as an English teacher, he worked in Africa, Japan, South America and South East Asia. Just as anyone would conclude, Ken’s travels were precarious at some point, including time spent in a Brazilian jail, where he was wrongfully imprisoned for alleged involvement in a bar fight. He currently resides in Galway, Ireland, with his wife and his daughter, Grace.

Ken started writing after his gruesome experience in prison in Brazil. The torture he went through left bad memories and mental anguish. A traumatized Bruen started writing crime fiction in an effort to get the nightmares off his head and heal the scars left from the horrendous ordeal. His very first novel, Funerals, was about a boy who attended funerals like they were soccer games. He has written over thirty five novels, six of which have been featured in television series. His novels feature typical comedy incorporated into noir crime fiction, and he does not fail to poke the Irish Church and the State at some particular point in his novels. He exposes a number of ills and provides an intuition of the dark side of Ireland. The main themes in his works are Ireland’s economic prosperity since the 1990s, immigration, the decline of the social and political power of the Catholic Church and the social change in Ireland.

One of his most acclaimed series is the White trilogy (1998-2000). The series has three parts; A White Arrest, Taming the Alien and The McDead. It features a London Detective, Chief Inspector Robert, who is a sixty two year old cop, with a cheating wife and a daughter who loathes him. He makes up for his old age by being relentless and having a ferocity that policemen younger than him don’t eve come close to matching. With his partner, Detective Sergeant Brant, Robert poses a threat to London’s dark side by brutally pursuing mysterious hit men, thugs, lowlifes, gangs and kingpins. They come up against a vigilante gang that hangs drug dealers in the name of justice, an enforcer known as the Alien and a serial killer intent on wiping out England’s Cricket team. Their focus is on building the reputation of the police force with a ‘white arrest’, an arrest that is so pure that it would make up for all the shortcomings of the force. The novel exposes a vicious side of London that is full of corruption and an utter lack of integrity. A third character, Woman Police Constable Falls, is a young officer who without a doubt leaves one amazed at how diligently she fights against corruption. She brings out a female perspective and a twist that leaves a reader intrigued. Bruen’s style of writing in this trilogy features black humour and evidently portrays his flair, knack and dexterity. The sketchy descriptions of each character leaves one feeling like they have known them all their life. The trilogy was described by the British GQ as “the most striking and original novels of the decade.”

The Guards (2001), is a famous novel, the first entry in the Jack Taylor Series, which won the Shamus Award for Best Novel of 2003. The series has a record eleven parts; The Guards, The Killing Of The Tinkers, The Magdalen Matyrs, The Dramatist, Priest, Cross, Sanctuary, The Devil, Headstone, Purgatory and Green Hell. The series is set in his hometown, Galway. The main character in the series is Jack Taylor, a former policeman who was dismissed from the Irish Police Force, Garda Siochana. After being fired, Jack Taylor starts drinking his misfortunes away, when a desperate mother asks him to investigate the alleged suicide of her daughter in Galway, and thus begin his adventures and misadventures as he becomes a self-proclaimed detective, a “private eye”. One can describe Jack Taylor as an Alcoholic, angry, bitter, scarred, broken, pill popper, coke addict, but underneath the drug using character, he has an astounding loyalty to his friends and a talent for finding things out. He has passion for his newly found detective work, despite being extremely proud, arrogant and well aware of his wit and brainy discoveries. He goes out of his way, sometimes using crude, obnoxious, detestable and unexpected ways to solve his cases. He uses a plethora of quotations and digressions that go ahead to prove his pomp and self righteous attitude. The series is a remarkable work of art that keeps one on their toes and fully absorbed by the book. It is extremely fascinating and has a rich use of style. The Television Drama Series, Jack Taylor, was produced, based on the book, in 2010, featuring the first six novels in the series, starring Iain Glein in the title role . It was first broadcast in UK in 2013.

Ken Bruen’s other amazing pieces include Bust, a Hard Case Crime publication that he wrote in collaboration with the popular New York Crime author, Jason Starr in 2006 and the short story, Words Are Cheap, which was featured in the first issue of Murdaland, a literary noir magazine that features crime fiction.

Bruen is also the producer of some of his own movies based on his novels; Blitz (2011) based on his 2002 novel, London Boulevard (2010),based on his 2001 non-series novel and Jack Taylor: The Guards (2010). In addition to winning the 2004 Shamus Award for Best Novel, The Guards was a finalist for a number of awards; 2004 Barry Award for Best Novel, 2004, 2004 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel,2004 Macavity Award for Best Novel and 2010 Barry Award for Best Novel of the Decade. His book, Priest, was nominated for the 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Award in the category “best novel” and won the 2007 Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel. The Killing of the Tinkers won the Macavity Awards for Best Mystery Novel and was a finalist for the 2005 Anthony Award for Best Mystery Novel. The Dramatist (2004) won the 2007 Shamus Award for Best Novel and was a finalist for the 2005 Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel.

Jack Reacher is back! Personally I thought this was the 2nd best Reacher book yet. The latest book in the Jack Reacher series, Past Tense, came out November 5th. Family secrets come back to haunt Reacher when he decides to visit the town his father was born in. Why? Because when he visits there he finds out no-one with the last name of Reacher has ever lived there. It leaves him wondering - did his father ever live there? More Details.

Recommendations

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Featured Series

One of my favourite series is the Brilliance Saga by Marcus Sakey and it is our featured series of the month. It's just an incredible light sci-fi series that fans of "Dark Matter" would also enjoy. It's free on Kindle Unlimited too! More Details.

Featured Author

Our author of the month is Canadian author Opal Carew who writes erotic romance novels. Opal has written over 100 novels with multiple book series such as the Dirty Talk series and the Abducted series. If you’re a fan of erotic romance, be sure to check out Opal Carew.

Did You Know…

Due to the mass controversy involving the ending to The Divergent Trilogy, author Veronica Roth had to post a large blog post, both explaining and defending the ending of the series.